Bibliogr. s. 61-62

Ethnic movement is a special kind of social movement built around a chosen feature of the group considered to be ethnically distinctive. One of the most important and most frequently indicated distinctive features of this sort is religion. In Tibetan social life religion occupies a key position. Although various dimensions of Tibetan religious life are operative on different levels of social organization, they still remain an important catalyst for social activity. Religious issues have tremendous mobilizing and integrating power for collective action. Religion is often invoked by ethnic minority leaders in order to achieve political objectives. Ethno-national identity of the Tibetans is inextricably linked with religious-life values. That symbiosis transforms almost every instance of collective worship into a political demonstration involving the ethnic factor.